To ponder, while putting

• Can Habs I/O live blogger Mike Boone make it through another full season without eating a single pressbox hot dog? The key word here is pressbox. We will have to ask Francois Gagnon to keep an eye on Boone, & get pictures if he sees Mike eating a pressbox hot dog.

Well fellow Habs fans, August has come and gone(August does have the same amount of days in Sweden doesn't it?), and no word from the one who shall go nameless. Shows what sort of relationship he enjoys with his agent, hanging him out to dry, with no less than 3 drop dead dates. And as yet no word...still, I hold out faint hope that we might still be the recipient of his selfdefensive style of play in front of the oppositions net. Sitting here, I realize what a petty and meanspirited individual I am, 'cause all I can think of if the nameless one doesn't sign with our beloved Habs, is how much I would love to see BGL punch his face in for making such a mockery out of our sincere desire to see ____ win The Cup while wearing the B.B.R. Go Habs Go

Finally, after about three re-writes... 1920-21 Aging Canadiens Fall Short http://wwwrealitycheckeyesontheprize.blogspot.com/2008/09/1920-21-aging-... Quite the nutty year in the 1920-21 NHL. Read all about the craziness of early NHL. Stars such as Newsy Lalonde, Sprague Cleghorn, and Harry Mummery are featured in a season where the aging Habs don't quite pull it together. Fun stuff: Mummery's prefered pre-game meal, Newsy's least favorite bench drink, and the reason Sprague might have grown a big hate for the city of Ottawa. Enjoy!

Alright boone, and company, I am ready for the start of the season, just came back from a weekend in toronto, and got something I've wanted forever...Koivu sweater :D...Me and my family walked all over downtown toronto when I was wearing it, and only 2 people said something negative to me...Where's their hockey spirit?.... but in all fairness I guess if the habs were losers for the past 40 years, we wouldn't be as proud as we are...or maybe we would. anyways, I haven't posted in a while...what's up with this SK74 to centre move??? I guess Carbo has no hope in Sundin coming to MTL? If he doesn't anyone think Gainey will try and get someone like Murray (anyother big strong forwards Available?) + sign a dman (I think there are quite a few solid ones out there..?) I don't think losing Streit will hurt our PP much...if at all. When Souray left, Markov knew he had to step up, and work on getting his shot more accurate, he did that...even though streit was the main trigger man at the point....He will probably work on it even more now. Tanguay has a bullet, Kovy has a bullet, and AK46, and Pleks both have great shots as well. SK74 is also another good pointman.... Breezers isn't bad either (if we resign him). To me it seems that the habs have way too many weapons on the PP to suffer from the loss of streit. Anyways 8 days till NHL '09 comes out :D...and about a month until the season comes out....it's going to be awesome :) ~Listen to the rooster! He knows what he's saying!

DueNorth1 As far as a 4th D goes, I think Gorges is your man. In behind his own net, he's hard to beat. A lot of grit and usually always comes out with the puck. If he does lose the puck in his zone, he works relentlessly to get it back. This guy's a winner. He also moves the puck well out of his zone. Makes a good first pass....(although his style is not the same, but the way he gets out of his zone quickly, reminds me a bit of Petr Svoboda) As far as the lines go, I likes D'Agostini and possibly Stewart to make the team. Pacioretty is a long shot. D'agostini played with Sergei in Hamilton, and the 1 game he played last year with the Canadiens he clicked pretty good with SK. Higs, SK, D'Agos would be a firey 3rd line. Lots of grit with a ton of finesse. They should fill the net LATS, Saku and Tanguay will also be productive. Be patient with Lats...he'll be productive with this combo. It'll be benefifial to Lats devellopment and beneficial to the habs Great playmaking with a bit of size. AK27, AK46 and Plecs....nothing to add. AK46 has come out of his shell...playing with confidence. He'll make all the skeptics eat their words. Will be dominant. Look for Halak to puch Pricey to greater heights Plec - AK27 - AK46 Saku - Tanguay - Lats SK74 - Higgins - D'Agostini / Stewart Chipchura - Lapierre - Begin / Laraque Spares: Pacioretti, Yanick Lehoux Markov - Komi Hamrlik - Gorges Bouillon - Valentenko / O'Byrne Spare: Belle Price / Halak

sorry for the repost. I just wanted everyone to see. Just to clarify about people that want to see Higgins as a center. In my opinion, right now, Higgins is very over-rated. He had an amazing start to the year last year but only because he was playing with the brilliant play-maker Koivu and then then finisher Ryder. Higgins does not have the vision to play the center role. In my opinion he will develop into a fantastic power-forward however he has to work on his hitting and his crashing the net attributes first. Higgins needs to bulk up and remember that it is harder for a goalie to stop the puck if he can't see it. This year Higgins will have a much better year and improve drastically for the future if he is not asked to play a significant part in the teams offense. He will do a lot better and grow personally with the third line checking role with Lapierre.

Since the loss of Souray did not hurt the power play at all, and actually made it a little bit better because we weren't so one dimesional, I'd say the loss of Streit will "hurt" the power play as much as the loss of S.S. Which is not at all.

I think we should give gorges a chance as the fourth guy. We all saw what he could do during the back stretch of the season and in the playoffs, and i think he deserves a little bit of respect. The hammer is known for developping young talent, and i think we really do have it. Getting another d-man may slow down the development of our young blue line (even if its only a 1 year rental). I think our 1 and only priority for this last stretch before the season should be to acquire a center, whether it be sundin or not. We need to start winning faceoffs and have a guy down the middle. With a bit more than 6 mil on the table, lets go out and find a nice faceoff winner, with an extra offensive touch if possible. The last thing we need is a clogged defensive core while we struggle yet again to win faceoffs up front!

If the lineup stays the same as we have now which i wouldn't be surprised if it did. Personally I would love an experienced 4th d man but anyways. With the current roster this will be the lineup: 1A: Tanguay-Koivu-Sergei 1B:AK46-Pleks-Kovy 3:Higgins-Lapierre-Lats 4: Begin-Chipper-BGL/Kosto Bench: Stewart/D'Ag Markov-Komo Hammer-OB Cube-Gorges Bench:unknown possibly Briseboise. I believe we have not signed briseboise yet in the belief that we are targeting another d man

Barry Speaks about Sundin to Montreal Radio Station (2 days old) If it was him, he thinks Montreal and Vancouver are the best bets if he does not retire. http://www.corussports.com/radio/audioplayer.php?file=1138543.mp3&mode=c... _______________________ "ITS NOT EASY BEING GREEN...FOR A SUPERSTAR"

Most important question of the list in my view: Andrei Markov, Mike Komisarek and Roman Hamrlik are as good as any Top 3 defencemen in the East. But who's number 4.... ? If Sundin does not come on board, my suggestion would be that we acquire someone to serve as that number 4 defenseman. OB is still young to be number 4 but he may be number 4 eventually, Gorges and Cube are third-pairing defenseman at best. Breezer (if resigned) is a 7th D and Dandy's days on the blueline should be behind him. Someone suggested going after former Hab Matt Schneider, who is clearly on the block. This seems like a good plan B - we can pair him up with Gorges to make a solid third-pairing and Schneider can help on the PP (making up for Streit's loss). Plus, he's only under contract for one more year, meaning next year Carle, Valentenko (and likely others) can compete for a starting job. Proposal: Cube at a 4th for Schneider and prospect Nicolas Deschamps. AK46-Pleks-Kovy Tanguay-Higgins-SK74 Lats-Koivu-Lapierre Kosto-Chipper-BGL/Begin Bench: Stewart/D'Ag Markov-Komo Hammer-OB Schneider-Gorges Bench: Breezer

If not Sundin, ... ? A.The best player available at the right price and time. • Who was that masked man? Which Carey Price do we get this season? A. A rested Price with expectations to win. • Will the sophomore jinx afflict SK74? A. He won't be a surprise to other teams anymore, but 50 -60 pts. isn't out of the question. • Is AK 46 for real? A. He may be the reason Kovy won't be signed again. • How will Alex Tanguay react to the pressure of being the Canadiens' marquee Québécois player? A. Can't tell, but will baby distract him from the job at hand? • How will the team react to the pressure of the centennial season? A. The special events and fans should them why the Habs are more than just another NHL club. • Which Alex Kovalev will show up for his contract year? A. A lighter, faster Kovy who may pop 30 with 40+ assists. • How much does Saku Koivu have left in the tank? A. Not much- that's why being #3 center may be the best thing for him at this point. • The low-expectations Canadiens topped the Eastern Conference. How will a high-expectations team fare? A. I'm looking forward to a top 5 in the league position for the season. • Can the the Canadiens make it through a second straight season with no serious injuries? A. Probably not. I expect more injuries, and probably to key players, like Markov and Kovy. • Can Georges Laraque play eight to 10 minutes a game, allowing Carbo to roll four lines and thereby diminish the likelihood of serious injuries? A. For 1.5 mil, he may be on the 3rd line. Don't kid yourself, the man can play. • Will they sweep regular-season games against Boston and Philadelphia? A. No. • Will the loss of Mark Streit hurt the PP more than, less than or as much as the loss of Sheldon Souray did? A. Streit wanted money more than a legitimate shot at a Cup. I think he wanted to play D full-time, but no great loss. • Andrei Markov, Mike Komisarek and Roman Hamrlik are as good as any Top 3 defencemen in the East. But who's number 4 ... and don't we wish it were Bobby Orr? A. No Orr, but O'Byrne is the man. • Can the Canadiens beat Western Conference teams? A. The west ain't that much better, so yes. • Will impending free agency distract Mike Komisarek, Christopher Higgins and Tomas Plekanec? A. No, they will play for a big bucks contract. • Can Habs I/O live blogger Mike Boone make it through another full season without eating a single pressbox hot dog? Will he ever learn PhotoShop? A. Not a single one? That, I find hard to believe. Photoshop? Practice, practice, practice. Happy Labour Day, Mr. Boone. Gilbert 2008/09 is the season of the Habs

• If not Sundin, ... ? Nobody from the outside, at least until the trade deadline or possibly earlier if the team slumps badly. Chipchura will be given the chance to be the third-line shutdown guy. SK will be tried at centre and Carbo's impatience with the switch will end the experiment early. Maxwell may tear it up in Hamilton on a line with Pacioretty, and they may both get called up at Christmas. • Which Carey Price do we get this season? I don't know. Past performance suggests he'll be at least a good goalie. But if by chance he bombs, Halak will bail him out. • Will the sophomore jinx afflict SK74? Sergei doesn't believe in jinxes. • Is AK 46 for real? In the sense that he exists, yes. In the sense of whether he'll duplicate last season's success, yes. He's too talented to fail. • How will Alex Tanguay react to the pressure of being the Canadiens' marquee Québécois player? Depends completely on his start. If he opens the season with a few points, and seems to be fitting in well, he'll thrive. If he slumps and the public and media turn on him, he'll want out pretty quickly. • How will the team react to the pressure of the centennial season? A few older guys who have a sense of fleeting fame will appreciate it and look at this year a little more solemnly. The younger guys are generally kids with no idea what a hundred years mean, and little idea of the history that went before them, so it'll be one big party. • Which Alex Kovalev will show up for his contract year? I honestly believe Kovalev was hurt in the season before last. And I think he likes the attention he gets when he's playing well. So, if he's healthy, I'd expect a strong showing. • How much does Saku Koivu have left in the tank? Enough to start strongly, disappear for a couple of dozen games somewhere between the end of November and the All-Star break, then gradually crank it up until he's on fire for the playoffs. He's learned to parcel it out carefully at this stage of his career, so he'll be there when it counts, however much he's got left. • The low-expectations Canadiens topped the Eastern Conference. How will a high-expectations team fare? They'll do well. Few teams in the East got better over the summer. Habs improved with Tanguay and a more experienced core. I don't know if they'll be first, but they'll be exciting as hell to watch, and they'll make the playoffs, which is what really counts. • Can the the Canadiens make it through a second straight season with no serious injuries? No. I just hope it's not someone who has no discernible replacement in Hamilton, like Markov or a centre. • Can Georges Laraque play eight to 10 minutes a game, allowing Carbo to roll four lines and thereby diminish the likelihood of serious injuries? Carbo will try it. If Laraque can't keep up the pace, he'll be used in fewer games and only when muscle is required. He's going to have to work like a steveadore to prove himself. • Will they sweep regular-season games against Boston and Philadelphia? No, but they might sweep two other teams, like the Isles and leafs. • Will the loss of Mark Streit hurt the PP more than, less than or as much as the loss of Sheldon Souray did? I think Streit will be missed. There were days when Souray was missed too, despite the success of the PP. Sometimes you just wanted that cannon in your arsenal. Streit's skills were valuable too, but he'll be replaced with a different set of skills and the PP will roll on. • Andrei Markov, Mike Komisarek and Roman Hamrlik are as good as any Top 3 defencemen in the East. But who's number 4 ... and don't we wish it were Bobby Orr? O'Byrne will get the spot, but in terms of improvement and immediate skill, it's Gorges. • Can the Canadiens beat Western Conference teams? Yes. • Will impending free agency distract Mike Komisarek, Christopher Higgins and Tomas Plekanec? No. Other players, maybe, but these three have been in the position of pending free agency before and have only improved. They care every night, and will continue to do their best, no matter what outside factors are at play. • Can Habs I/O live blogger Mike Boone make it through another full season without eating a single pressbox hot dog? Will he ever learn PhotoShop? I don't believe he didn't eat a single pressbox hot dog LAST season. And the jury's out on the PhotoShop, which is currently pretty painful. http://habsloyalist.blogspot.com

Bleacher Report - No Habs in Nhl's top 10 Bluelines by M.J.Kasprzal ..... http://bleacherreport.com/articles/52561-nhls-top-ten-bluelines ....................... Top 20 Worst Hockey Cliches .. by Alan Bass ..... http://bleacherreport.com/articles/52527-top-twenty-worst-hockey-cliches .................. Matt Sundin's Soliloquy .. by Mark Makuch ..... http://bleacherreport.com/articles/52827-matt-sundins-soliloquy

• If not Sundin, ... ? A: We won't get Sundin, and no one for that matter. The team you see now is what we will have at the start of the season (Not including the cuts of-course) • Who was that masked man? Which Carey Price do we get this season? The cucumber-cool kid who gave the Canadiens rock-solid goaltending down the stretch and stoned the Bruins in Game 7? Or the jittery rook who was mediocre, to put it charitably, against the Flyers and made R.J. Umberger look like Mike F. Bossy? A: a more experienced Price, who will have some good games.. some bad games.. some great games and some terrible games. Get use to it, he's only human. • Will the sophomore jinx afflict SK74? A: I think he will probably have a much more better season, more experienced and he will have a bigger role. • Is AK 46 for real? A: Yes, but I think SK74 will steal the show at the Kostitsyn family reunions. • How will Alex Tanguay react to the pressure of being the Canadiens' marquee Québécois player? A: He will handle it fine. He doesnt seem like a guy who will be rattled by the press. I hope not atleast. • How will the team react to the pressure of the centennial season? A: The quebecois, will handle it differently but I do not think that the team will be screw up to the pressure. They'll be fine. Maybe not the first few games but after that, itll be just another season... I don't think 100th season will mean they have to do things different or some stuff like that.. • Which Alex Kovalev will show up for his contract year? A: Probably a better Kovalev then last year.. if he likes Montreal alot, he will play his butt off to get more money and more years. If he hates Montreal and wants to sign somewhere else, he will play his butt off so he can get more money for a team he feels is much better. So better Kovy. • How much does Saku Koivu have left in the tank? A: Enough to win him his first Stanley Cup. • The low-expectations Canadiens topped the Eastern Conference. How will a high-expectations team fare? A: IMO around 2-5. I just dont think we will win the eastern confrence this year... Teams have gotten MUCH better this year... • Can the the Canadiens make it through a second straight season with no serious injuries? A: I wont say anything. Don't want to Jynx. • Can Georges Laraque play eight to 10 minutes a game, allowing Carbo to roll four lines and thereby diminish the likelihood of serious injuries? A: Meh.. I am not the biggest fan the Laraque signing.. and I dont think we will see him play 8-10 minute games. But.. Carbo can surprise us. • Will they sweep regular-season games against Boston and Philadelphia? A: No. • Will the loss of Mark Streit hurt the PP more than, less than or as much as the loss of Sheldon Souray did? A: Markov made Mark Streit. • Andrei Markov, Mike Komisarek and Roman Hamrlik are as good as any Top 3 defencemen in the East. But who's number 4 ... and don't we wish it were Bobby Orr? A: Gorges. BELIEVE. • Can the Canadiens beat Western Conference teams? A: Yes. As long as they are not in the west coast... Since we will see more of the West, we can judge weather the Habs can match up vs the West teams. • Will impending free agency distract Mike Komisarek, Christopher Higgins and Tomas Plekanec? A: I dont know these guys, but if they are anything like Sheldon Souray.. they'll play their *** off this season just so they can get a much bigger pay check next season.. I hope they can play their *** off though... even if its for a better pay check next season.. Already those 3 guys are terrific.. imagine if they put to 500%. Wowzers. • Can Habs I/O live blogger Mike Boone make it through another full season without eating a single pressbox hot dog? Will he ever learn PhotoShop? A: No (2)

Finally, after about three re-writes... 1920-21 Aging Canadiens Fall Short http://wwwrealitycheckeyesontheprize.blogspot.com/2008/09/1920-21-aging-... Quite the nutty year in the 1920-21 NHL. Read all about the craziness of early NHL. Stars such as Newsy Lalonde, Sprague Cleghorn, and Harry Mummery are featured in a season where the aging Habs don't quite pull it together. Fun stuff: Mummery's prefered pre-game meal, Newsy's least favorite bench drink, and the reason Sprague might have grown a big hate for the city of Ottawa. Enjoy!

Carbo contemplating any of this tomorrow? Not a chance, but here are my two cents. Good Kovy is gonna show up and I say resign him for another two years, same for Koivu, I agree with you Edmond he needs to play less minutes and save it all up for the playoffs. He had something like 95 mins in penalties last season, one of the highest on the team, I think he gets tired and hence the hooking penalties. That has to stop. Higgins and Komi,resign them both at 4 mil for 4 years. It's a decent increase, I get the impression that they both want to stay with the Habs for a while, they can both look for the big bucks down the line, they'll both still be young enough. Price had burnout at the end, he's had a nice long rest, I'm optimisitic about him this season. With no Sundin I say sit on the money until the right guy comes along, maybe in February at the trade. We'll see exactly what holes need to be filled by then to make a serious run.

Not a good idea to resign Kovalev for another three years.....it's too risky. If anything, offer one year deals. If he doesn't accept, let him go.

Hey Mike, check out these hilarious and educational Photoshop tutorials: http://www.mydamnchannel.com/Big_Fat_Brain/You_Suck_at_Photoshop/YouSuck...

Mike, Here are some answers to your questions: 1-If not Sundin.. Then fill the role from within, my bet is SK 74. 2-AK 46 is for real and will produce at least as much this year. 3-Alex K will produce close to last year and Gainey should sign him for three more years. 4-Koivu will have to play fewer minutes to be effective. 5-Tanguay will flourish and prove to be an excellent addition. He will resign but for less. 6-Price will be the best goalie in the league. 7-Laraque will play around eight minutes and Carbo will know how to use him well; we may see him on the PP occasionally. 8-The pending UFA's and RFA's will be fine, they are character guys and full of talent and desire. 9-We will win the cup.

Beautiful Photoshop job, Mike. You're well on your way.